jeff probst

CBS has renewed 'Survivor' for Season 25 and 26, a move that will keep the show on the air until 2013.

Jeff Probst will return as host and executive producer.

"I am thrilled to continue working on the longest-running reality competition show with the world's greatest adventure crew for two more seasons," Probst said in a statement. "We are so thankful for the supportive fans who remain with us every season, and we promise to deliver another year of quality television."

According to Deadline, NBC owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Hartford, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco and San Diego will air the 'Survivor' host's new talk show. His daytime series will simply be titled 'Jeff Probst.'

"I'm fascinated with people," Probst said. "And I love adventure. I can't wait to bring these two worlds together in daytime, and the added bonus is I get to continue with 'Survivor' in primetime."

Christine was looking to repeat Matt Elrod's performance last season by getting back into the game on 'Survivor: South Pacific' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS). Meanwhile, Brandon Hantz continues running from the legacy of his Uncle Russell, though ironically Coach noticed this week that he runs exactly like his uncle.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

It was Survivor Shuffleboard at Redemption Island, and Christine kept alive another week, and proved to her tribemates she's still holding a grudge by flipping them the bird when they tried to root for her.

Going into this three-hour finale extravaganza for 'Survivor: Redemption Island' (Sun., 8PM ET on CBS), one man has been running this game since Day One. "Boston Rob" Mariano single-handedly orchestrated the elimination of the opposing tribe and managed to keep his own alliance of six strong until the end.

At every turn, he had total control of the game, but toward the end it became more and more difficult to keep control. Ashley and Natalie have been considering their chances without the Rob-father, and there's still that element of Redemption Island, which has four people on the cusp of returning to the game.

"'Survivor' is a program franchise that continues to stand the test of time," Jennifer Bresnan, executive vice president of alternative programming at CBS, said in a statement. "Each season delivers new faces, exotic places, the ultimate social experiment combined with game play, and one of the most engaged audiences anywhere on primetime television."

Probst's name entered the race for the empty 'Live' seat after filling in for Philbin on several occasions. That's pretty unlikely to happen now, unless Kelly Ripa is comfortable sitting next to a screen for long periods of time.

"I heard that you got married by Jeff Probst, the 'Survivor' guy," he said. "Now is that a tabloid thing or is that real?"

The story isn't as funny as some of the images Leno concocted of Probst running some kind of 'Survivor' church. Instead, it was simply a matter of Fischer and her then-fiancé Lee Kirk wanting to be married by someone they knew. When they heard that their friend Jeff Probst could do it, they booked him.

Another season of 'Survivor' has come and gone -- and I guess I can even say the person I was rooting for won. The thing is, I only starting rooting for Fabio two weeks ago, when I realized that the time to pick a favorite had long since passed. Sure, like a lot of people, I was rooting for the male model formerly known as Judson, but only from a dearth of options. What was I supposed to do? Root for 'villainous' Sash, whose claim to fame was getting Marty to give up an idol? Sash called himself a backstabber, but his mild-mannered play looked more like a back massage to me. Come on, guy! Villains are supposed to be evil!

Then there was Chase, who floated to the final four like a pretty princess, never really making any calls at all. And even Fabio, who pulled off that triple immunity win right when he needed it, seemed fairly clueless most of the time. I would like to point out that it takes a very fine actor to play dumb. I'm not sure Fabio is the next Tom Hanks, you know what I mean? Sigh. This was pretty sorry batch of castaways, let's be honest.

Is it just us, or does it feel like 'Survivor' is on TV year-round? Last night, shortly after announcing the winner of 'Survivor: Nicaragua,' Jeff Probst and CBS unveiled details of the upcoming Season 22. And we learned that it will usher in some big changes to the show's format.

In the past we've had All-Star seasons, Fans vs. Favorites, Young vs. Old and Heroes vs. Villains. We've had nudists and celebrities. Some seasons had two tribes, others have had four, but the basic premise -- once you're voted off the island, the show's over for you -- hasn't changed.

However, coming out of a season that tried out several gimmicks with mixed success, the show's in danger of becoming tired and predictable.

So, following the example of 'American Idol' and others, producers have introduced a twist: Eliminated contestants won't go straight home. Instead, they'll head to 'Redemption Island' where they'll get another chance to compete.

Five contestants entered the finale, but Dan was voted out after the first immunity challenge, and Holly -- the last female contestant -- was voted out following the second challenge. This left us with the all-male group of Chase, Fabio and Sash. And the winner of 'Survivor: Nicaragua' is ...

This was the penultimate episode of 'Survivor: Nicaragua' (Wed., 8PM ET on CBS), and things were getting tense. Six players remained; five spots were available. And tonight, one player was eliminated in a fairly spectacular fashion.

Jane Bright returned to camp to ask if her four-person alliance was still holding together. It wasn't. "Somebody has to go tonight," Holly said. "It's hard." There was then a long, awkward pause, as Jane, Chase, Holly and Sash stood nervously in a circle. " ... So, is it me?" Jane said at last.

Yes; it was. Jane's own alliance had turned against her -- because they were afraid that the plucky 56-year-old would beat them all in the finale. This gave Jane two options: She could react calmly, and try to win the alliance back, or, she could be outraged. And Jane chose ... outraged.

We lost two members of the 'Survivor: Nicaragua' family tonight (Wed., 8PM ET on NBC). But unlike last time, it wasn't because anyone quit. Following the previous week's debacle, in which NaOnka and Kelly left the show, the tribe returned to camp. The players had a live chicken left over from a previous challenge, so they named it "Kelly-Nay," in honor of the two women. (Because NaOnka and Kelly were "chicken" for quitting ... get it?)

But like the girls, the bird wasn't long for this world. The three-man alliance of Benry, Fabio and Dan killed the chicken and ate it (they were joined in the feast by Sash). When Jane returned to camp, she started weeping; she felt the bird was her "pet." She then made a memorial for "Kelly-Nay's" remains, placing a little wooden cross on top of its grave. Aw!

But that was only the first loss of the day -- an actual human still had to be kicked off the show.

Only four players have quit 'Survivor' during the show's decade-long run. There's a reason for this: Quitters never prosper. The longer you stay on the show, the more money you get. On tonight's 'Survivor: Nicaragua' (Wed., 8PM ET on NBC), two players were tempted to leave anyway. Would they stay or would they go?

A torrential rainstorm hit the Libertad camp, which was still recovering from last week's fire. The rain washed away part of the beach -- and for two contestants, it also swept away their will to continue. NaOnka has nervous breakdowns every time it rains; now, she was joined by Kelly Shinn -- known as "Purple Kelly" for the dyed-purple tips of her hair.